Daniel 1:8-21

English Standard Version

Daniel's Faithfulness

⁸But Daniel ^(A)resolved that he would not ^(B)defile himself with ^(C)the king's food, or with ^(D)the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to ^(E)defile himself. ⁹^(F)And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, ¹⁰and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” ¹¹Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹²“Test your servants for ^(G)ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat ^(H)the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” ¹⁴So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. ¹⁵At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate ^(I)the king's food. ¹⁶^(J)So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them ^(K)vegetables.

¹⁷As for these four youths, ^(L)God gave them learning and ^(M)skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had ^(N)understanding in all visions and dreams. ¹⁸At the end of ^(O)the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore ^(P)they stood before the king. ²⁰And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all ^(Q)the magicians and ^(R)enchanters that were in all his kingdom. ²¹And Daniel ^(S)was there until the first year of ^(T)King Cyrus.